“He misplaced to Bivol. He didn’t see that coming,” mentioned Banks, a Detroit native and retired heavyweight who has skilled Golovkin since 2019. “This battle was a hell of an ace within the gap for him.”
Golovkin’s camp contends that Álvarez delayed this rematch deliberately, outclassing opponents like Plant and Billy Joe Saunders whereas ready for Golovkin, a forward-moving energy puncher who has scored knockouts in three of his final 4 bouts, to age out of his prime. Now 40, Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 knockouts) concedes that he has needed to alter his exercises to account for his age. His group now features a nutritionist and a therapeutic massage therapist who assist him recuperate from the pressure of every day coaching.
However Golovkin, who grew up in Kazakhstan and trains in Huge Bear Lake, Calif., maintains that he’s nonetheless younger sufficient to hassle Álvarez.
“I’ll by no means take a step again,” Golovkin mentioned in an interview, via a Russian language translator. “Even when I’m 50 years previous, if I’m challenged by Canelo, I’d take the problem. There are not any different opponents as fascinating. DAZN is aware of that. Canelo is aware of that. Ultimately, this battle was going to happen, it doesn’t matter what.”
And for DAZN, the bout remembers the proverb about the most effective time to plant a tree.
The most effective time would have been in 2019, the yr after the streaming service signed a $365 million cope with Golden Boy Promotions, which promoted Álvarez then. DAZN had already signed an eight-year, $1 billion cope with Matchroom Boxing, a promoter primarily based in England. The Golden Boy contract was alleged to ship 11 Álvarez bouts, one in all which, ideally, would have been a matchup with Golovkin. DAZN hoped the third bout, together with Álvarez’s long-term presence, would assist drive subscriptions to their service and, finally, make pay-per-view boxing occasions out of date.